THE SWORD AND THE SICKLE

PART ONE: REVELATIONS

CHAPTER-FOUR

CONVERSATIONS WITH ALINDA

© 2017, Olan L. Smith

"Hurry, I've gotta piss," was his reply.

No doubt, that was her Levi and she felt relieved. "Okay Levi, come on in. I am finished and when you are finished, I want to talk to you.

Levi finished and walked back to the front room, sitting down across from Venus; he said, "Okay Judy, I'm here. Let's talk, and then get down to business."

"Levi. What do you think about the name Venus Myrtle Bastion? I am going back to my maiden name."

"That is an old name; you don't hear any more, but I like it. Did you know that your middle name is the name of a type of tree, and it's a beautiful hardwood, and Aphrodite's favorite tree? I think it means loving."

"God damn it, how do you know so much? Shit, forgive me... uh... forget; I said that."

"No, that's fine; I can be a know-it-all; sometimes. Ever since I started having these sleep hallucinations about Alinda, I have studied everything I could get my hands on about Aphrodite. That is when I learned it was her favorite tree. The rest I picked up during life."

"I don't know what I want or what I am saying, Levi. I think I want to change my middle name to Myrtle and my last name back to Bastion."

"Well, it is a pretty name, and you are certainly a loving person; that is for sure. I can't decide for you, but it's totally up to you. I really liked the name Venus, I always have, and Venus Myrtle sounds good. I could call you Myrtle the turtle."

"Quit that, Levi Turtle Jackson!"

"Okay, that was easy, how else may I be of help to you this beautiful morning?"

"Oh God, what should... shit, forgive me; God... Fuck! I can't talk. I am all tongue-tied."

"Slow down Venus, take a deep breath and just spit it out."

"You mentioned Alinda. What does she look like when you see her?"

"Usually, she appears to me with long dark hair, brown eyes, quite tall, and she is the most loving woman you'll ever meet. Why?"

"Well, I think I saw her this morning."

"You mean you had a hypnagogic experience, this morning?"

"Hypnagogic. My fucking eye! This was real. I saw her. I touched her. And I could touch her.

"The hypnopompic hallucination sure feels real; doesn't it? Hell, I even believed she turn on my radio one night when I was going to bed. I was listening to the radio, which I didn't turn and..."

Venus interrupted by standing up and pulling down her pants and showing her butt and said, "NO! Levi Turtle Jackson, I mean she is real! Just look at my ass!"

Levi stared at her ass and saw a red, obviously feminine hand print right in the center of her left cheek. Levi said, "How did you get that?"

"Alinda gave it to me and it will never go away!"

"How do you know that?"

"She told me that a few minutes ago, in the fucking bathroom."

"I knew it, she is real, but it is hard to believe when you are the only one seeing her!"

"Well, I guarantee you she is absolutely fucking real, and I have this brand to always remind me of it."

"Now, you, Levi Jackson, are going to tell me everything you know about her and leave nothing out, since it now affects me." Levi went over to his desk and pulled out all his notes, stacks of them. He went over all of them with her. When he finished she asked, "What else do you know that you are not sharing with me? I know well enough when you are trying to hide something."

"Nice to see my bossy Venus is back. Good detective work my dear, yes I know some things that are not written down. I have known for a long time that you are sterile, I know that you will outlive me and that I will give you a child who is named Ariel."

"What else?"

"I saw you watching me paint when I was at Arrow Rock, and that was the reason I enquired about teaching a portrait painting class, so I could advertise in the paper in hopes you would reply."

"You mean you knew my husband who called you?"

"I did not recognized the name Polanski, but recognized your face when you showed up no matter what hair color you wore."

"Well, I am glad we hooked up again. Too bad it has taken so long. I should have left Jim the moment I saw you."

"No Hun that was not the way it was supposed to happen. I had to grow closer to God before I was ready to have you in my life."

"This whole thing has me confused, what are you, who are you that gods talk to you as your equal?"

"I told you I was getting a god complex and evidently you are, too. So perhaps we belong together since the goddess of love has arranged it. Levi Jackson, I do believe you just proposed to me."

"Well, we can't have you being an unwed mother, can we?"

"No, I guess not, but I guarantee you I am not going to move into this place. You are going to have to move in with me."

"If you insist."

"Tell me sweetie, could you feel me touching you this morning while you were sleeping."

"I wouldn't know if it was you or a phantom, since Alinda first revealed herself to me, I have beings touching me almost every morning. One morning I had twenty young women stroking me and having sex with me. It is amazing."

"Well, don't let them take you away from me."

Venus was quiet for a moment as she put her thoughts together and said, "Levi. Alinda told me you are the incarnation of God. After experiencing her, I can't really argue with her that you are something special, even godly. I wanted to run away this morning. I didn't want to have anything to do with it, but she literally stopped me and convinced me to stay. You see, I was petrified. Literally, frightened to death; even being near you. I came over to help a man who was having mental problems, or so I thought, and now I am sharing those same beliefs, but with this damn brand on my ass, I know it is all real. Levi Jackson, you are the embodiment of God on earth, nor do you even comprehend that notion. I don't even feel comfortable cussing in front of you, let along having sex with you. She reminded me you are the same, Levi, but you're not, because you are a demigod, a man god who is not totally aware of his own godliness. I am more of a spiritualist, who believes the universe is God, and now I find myself married to one who fuckin' created the whole shebang. I need time to think this over. This is just too much for me to handle.

"First, I am not the creator of the "whole shebang" and neither is Adonai. Adonis, means Lord of all, master or judge, and is the creative power of the 'Great Unknown,' he like us is a creature. Last of all, Venus, I have experience with specters, angels, gods, or guides that enter my mind and reveal things about me. I wasn't sure whether or not to believe it, either, until just now when you revealed it to me red-handed, so to speak. So, this is heady for me, too. I am a flawed person, who had been unfaithful to my wife, and now you have given my hallucinations validity. What am I to do? Laugh or cry?"